3 years later, projects to stop floods to be funded

Remnants of Hurricane Ike drenched Kane County about three years ago, but the storm's legacy is just now raining cash on local communities.

Kane County officials learned this week they will receive $2.27 million in federal disaster aid.

Officials put together a list of 16 flood control projects in November. That's when the state announced it was ready to release the $48 million President George W. Bush authorized in declaring parts of the state ravaged by floods in 2008 "major disaster" areas. The award notices came out this week.

The state selected five of Kane County's 16 projects for funding.

"We applied for funding for any and every project that we thought would even be halfway considered by the state of Illinois," said Scott Berger, who oversaw the county's applications. "There were a number of factors at play. We didn't know how competitive the application process was going to be heading in. We just felt like we're in a position where we hate to leave anything on the table."

Kane County will leverage the $2.27 million in federal dollars with county flood control money, funds from the Aurora Township Highway Department and a $2.5 million Illinois EPA loan Big Rock applied for to finance $5.3 million in construction projects.

Indeed, Big Rock will be the site of four of the five projects. The village's Berman Estates and Tenerelli subdivisions will both see new drainage systems. The village as a whole will benefit from the separation of sanitary and storm sewer systems.

Big Rock Village Administrator Sandy Bell could not be reached for comment, but Berger said the projects will have a major impact on the village's flooding problems.

"There's going to be a tremendous amount of infrastructure work going on in one of our smallest communities," Berger said. "They're going to be able to solve some problems that have plagued them for a long, long time."

Aurora Township is the site of the remaining project. The Pasadena Drive neighborhood will receive a new storm sewer system.

County officials estimate the construction projects will create about 165 temporary construction jobs.